So I am starting another brass locomotive build project.
It is an 1851 4-4-0 steamer built by the Lowell Locomotive Works in Massachusetts.
Here is an elevation of the loco from the period. I'll put up more later.
see ya
Bob
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-101220220348-469052057.jpeg)
Well, if anyone cold build it, it would be you. Can't wait to see it.
Hey Bob:
I'll be watching.
Karl
Interesting! Count me in on following Bob.
Jerry
Your last brass build was amazing.....looking forward to seeing this one come out of the Parrish Locomotive Works..... :)
I'm in on this one as well.
Tom ;D
I'm definitely following along. Will it run also?
I'm not sure I 'grok' the diagram. Internal cylinders and driving rod?
dave
Thank you all for looking in.
Here is one of the very few actual photos of the locomotive. This was taken much later as the pilot truck was redesigned and the tender upgraded to stuff we would expect in the 1860's. This locomotive survived through 1877 and even then some parts were taken to extend the life of another pre Civil War locomotive.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-111220142508-469261044.jpeg)
Yes the cylinders were inboard of what we expect to see in later production. The notion of an inboard crank axle goes back to some of the earliest Baldwin locomotives in the late 1830's. I built one many years ago with a working crank axle and valve gear. I'll put up a photo later today.
The reason stuff was moved outward was due to maintenance. It was discovered that all of the inside valve gear was difficult to keep oiled and tougher yet to service. Most of the American type locomotives of the 1870's and 80's had inboard Stevenson gear with Gooch links (reversing levers) between the frame rails. By the 1890's nearly all of this gear was outboard where we are used to seeing it today.
So here are some photos of the frame design. I had to make several modifications as not all thinks scale down to HO and still have any strength whatsoever.
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More later
I mentioned earlier that even with pretty good drawings, you get into this stuff and find that not all things scale down equally. I had this cylinder block made up and in the frame and then discovered that the pilot truck would have not tolerated less than about a six foot radius. So I had to abandon this block, redesign the frame and start again.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-121220140508-46943499.jpeg)
I had to turn over the frame rails ahead of the lead drive wheel to get greater clearance under the cylinder block. The block was built this time into the frame rather than a separate part. Showing also are the mechanical pumps and cross heads. Injectors would come much later.
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Boiler and superstructure next
More later
Great modeling so far.
Now for the boiler. I turned down a scrap of thick wall 3/8" brass tubing to get to the scale 32 inch diameter boiler. I added .006 brass strips for the banding.
The larger area over the fire box is a series of large brass tubes with the outer one split on the bottom to make way for the gear case. The steam dome is a really weird mix of throttle and safety valves. The dry pipe went high up into the dome and the stack out the top was for any exhausted steam from the safeties. I cannot determine the nature of the square area below the dome. It may have been nothing more than a deck for the dome but my suspicion is that it was the cap for the square fire box below.
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The cab is on and I used an ancient Kemtron (later Precision Scale) casting that needed only little modification for this model. The brass sheeting that fills the space from the boiler to the wagon top is a '006" sheet cut into a circle and then edge soldered to the outer boiler shell and to the boiler tube. All of this soldering is done with a quick heat, liquid flux method that prevents previous parts from coming loose in the new heat. Also, multiple temp solders allow for working from hottest solders to coldest. The lowest I use goes off at about 180 degrees. A common match allows me to limit heat on some small parts. I put the match stick in a vise, get everything ready and then light the match and hold the part over it.
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Bob
Beautiful work! I will be following along on this one.
Bob
I agree Beautiful work! I will be following too. Dennis
Beautiful. You sir are a craftsman.
Bob,
I am always in awe of your craftsmanship, especially when you do it from scratch in brass. I'm following faithfully, hopeful that a tiny bit of your skill rubs off on me along the way.
Sorry, but I'm at a loss for words and you're just getting started.
Absolutely gorgeous Bob. Looking forward to seeing your progress.
The next step is the decking around the boiler. This period of locomotives had walkway with railings all the way around. OSHA would be very happy with this ! ! ! This feature would be gone by the end of the Civil War. The decking also served as fenders around the drive wheels.
I made the executive decision to make this part of the boiler / superstructure assembly rather than part of the frame. Being able to take this apart at some division point had arguments in a number of directions. In the end, part of the running gear will be attached to the superstructure, but overall this was the easiest.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-151220032941-469971650.jpeg)
The hand rail stanchions scale a bit fat but the inside dimension of the tubing allows for a 00-90 screw to come up from the bottom and hold them in place. In additional photos you will see that I made up the tube pilot that also was held in place with 00-90 screws from the underside.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-151220032941-469961037.jpeg)
Shown next is a series of .030" brass wires from the boiler tube to the decking to locate and level the deck to the center line of the boiler.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-151220032941-469782225.jpeg)
I will spend some time explaining the construction of the pilot next. They really are easy.
see ya
Bob
Wow, Bob. Exquisite craftsmanship.
WOW Bob. That is a beauty in the making.
(https://media.tenor.com/images/de8078329b1fcc3c632e8700d8b095be/tenor.gif)
I'm going to go sideways here and do a ditty on the pilot. Below are two photos of the pilot that will be on this loco. Then after that I will bring in some photos and discussion from a previous trolley project that I did on this forum for instruction. By now I have done a lot of these over the years and this one took about a half hour for initial construction and another half hour to fit it to the front deck of the locomotive.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-151220132933-469982328.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-151220132933-46999408.jpeg)
Now on to the construction. Here are to photos of the layout. It is all done flat and then bent and folded later. I scribe lines using my stainless steel frame digital vernier to set spacing from the edge. Once I establish the space between the wires, I simply add that amount and use the edge of the brass as a straight edge for one arm of the vernier.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-180219014800-377702152.jpeg)
Then I use a machinist's square I plot the various starting, stopping, and bending locations and use a carbide machinist's scribe to set the lines. The points of intersection are the locations for the drilling of holes.
Shown also here is the space needed for height of the pilot, the distance to the peak at the front and then enough to make the various bends to create the top beam that will become the mounting device to the frame of the locomotive.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-180219014800-377712146.jpeg)
How did the driving rod work on this? Is there no straight axle on the first set of drivers? Or does that axle have a crank in it on each side to accommodate the driving rod?
dave
Outstanding work.
Jerry
Dave..... You are asking a great question .......... You asked earlier and I had to run off some additional photos to create an answer.
Below are photos of an 1837 Baldwin locomotive that I built about 30 years ago. It was first owned by the predecessor to the C& NW in Chicago and later leased by the Burlington when they built their line from Chicago to Aurora. I was interested in this as my dad was 45 years with the Q.
What they did was use an inboard crank axle and the valves were controlled on the outside. Here are two photos of my take on it. On this particular model the rods move and the valves are timed for forward. There is an eccentric sleeve under the hex bolt on the outside.
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So to answer your question on the 1851 loco that I am building now....... They were still using an inboard crank axle but they had moved the valve linkage inboard also and used "D" hooks to raise and lower one or the other to set the locomotive to forward or reverse. They used a separate control linkage to set steam admission and cut-off. All of that would be replaced by the Gooch link that is present on locomotive after the Civil War and existed in Stevenson and other valve gears through 1900.
Thanks very much! It's interesting to see the prototype engineering as well as how you're modeling it. Lots of "wiggling" with visible valve gear :-)
dave
To continue on the pilot. Once you have determined which will be the intersections for the upper beam and the lower V shaped beam that projects forward. Drill small holes only slightly larger than the brass rod that you have chosen. In most cases I use .020" or .025" wire. It will finish surprisingly strong.
Then make the 90 degree bend that will create the height of the pilot up to the upper frame beam. You will then need to re-drill each hole as the angles will not be correct for each progressing across the pilot. Use drill like a reamer and work each pair until the drill slides easily between the pair.
Then cut short lengths of wire and put a sharp bend at one end of each. This will prevent the wires from sliding through before all are installed.
Shown here are the installed wires after soldering. I use a small bit of liquid flux from the back or largely hidden sice ONLY. You do not want solder creeping all over the wire as it is very hard to remove without bending the wire.
These next three photos are moved here from another build that I put up on this forum about two years ago when I built the trolley pole maintenance motor.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-180219014800-377722302.jpeg)
Then snip off all wire extensions and file down nearly smooth.
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I then open up the extra brass sheet from the back side so as to allow to be seen through.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-180219014848-377751734.jpeg)
For this model. I cut one wrap of the beam a bit long so as to be able to fold it in and close up the end of the beam and make it look solid.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-151220132933-46999408.jpeg)
More later
:-\
Beautiful job Bob!!!! Is this a static Build or gonna run it? Dennis
Dennis....
This will run from a motor in the tender via a U joint quill shaft.
There is not space in the boiler. I once built a loco where I put a small can motor in the boiler facing backwards to the gear case. They really don't know what forward is. In DCC the decoder is told and usually remembers.
With DC you set the power source to get what you want. Either way... the mechanics of the loco has no idea.
I long ago gave up on elaborate motor mounts. I use black RTV and glue it to wherever I can find. Often I will use the bottom plate of the abandoned open frame motor to hook to the original chassis mounts. The RTV is also a great sound deadener.
Thanx for looking in
Bob
OK........ I'm back....
I got stuck on about three things on this project and that has forced my silence until I had them worked out. One was the working valve gear off of the steam cutoff lever. Recall that they operated the cutoff separately from the direction links prior to the Gooch link of the mid to late 1860's. None of these were very efficient use of steam.
This photo shows the outboard link to the cutoff. Also shown is the fender panels that radius the drive wheels. This took a very long time to chop out and then plot where the wheels actually fell between the frame and the superstructure.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-050121185644-474521166.jpeg)
Now I'm going on to the pilot wheels. They were spoke wheels with an inboard frame. This was later changed but probably not before 1870. There are no spoke wheels available in the dimensions I needed so I took some plastic Roundhouse spoke centers and turned out the tires to fit. I made these from mild steel from a chunk of 3/8" pipe fitting. As the spokes are plastic, there was never going to be any electrical benefit to the operation. So steel doesn't matter.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-050121185645-474531497.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-050121185645-47454157.jpeg)
I made the inboard frame from a piece of 1/2' wide channel stock and reduced the sides to about .110". The axles are .092" so I only need to invent a retainer to hold the wheel sets in. That's for tomorrow.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-050121185645-47455924.jpeg)
see ya
Wonderful work Bob..... 8)
Outstanding modeling Bob.
Welcome back, inspiring as always.
dave
Thank you, all...
Let's build a tender. These forgotten little guys are pretty important in the construction of any steamer. This particular tender is really small and scales out only at about 16 feet. That's not a lot if I need to get a motor and decoder in there. I'm going to use a Digitrax 162 as it is hardly more than an inch long and a eight inch thick. The motor is a flat can 12x20 millimeters.
All the sheet brass in the superstructure is '006" sheet with rivet embossed from the back with a small stylus. The wrapper is all one piece and goes from the water tank valve on one side to the similar location on the other side.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-060121183254-474591415.jpeg)
The floor is also light brass sheet and bent and formed. The center rail is one eighth by one quarter rectangular tube with an additional .030" sheet over the top to provide some stock to get the truck screws place to anchor in.
Around the sides are various small strips added for rivet plates and corner reinforcement.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-060121183254-47460585.jpeg)
A load bulkhead and water tank lid were added. The bulkhead is .010" brass and the tank lid is an old Kemtron casting.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-060121183254-474612128.jpeg)
The load wrapper is really easy to construct. You lay it all out on paper and then transfer the perimeter onto the brass with a scribe. Important to the wrapper is that the outside legs are 90 degrees and the inter connecter is forty five degrees. Then leave enough tab material inside so as to have some material to solder to the tank wrap.
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Here is a look at the metal load wrapper when pulled around before installation.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/81-060121183254-47463400.jpeg)
More later
Hey Bob:
Can't to see this one finished. Great job so far.
Karl
Looking real good.
Amazing work.
Bob,
Absolutely amazing sir.
Tom ;D
So I am getting close........ I put the railings on and found a spring loaded lash up for the pilot truck.
There are a lot of detail stuff that has to happen before I can consider paint. But for now....
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Wow, that is one nice scratch build.
Bernd
Beautiful doesn't do it justice.
Just wonderful. Well done!
Almost a shame to cover such fine workmanship with paint.
Maybe a coat of clear lacquer if you can still spray that toxic stuff in Idaho?
Thank you all for your supportive remarks.
And yes, we still have distillates in Idaho........... that brings me to a great story.
I did a clinic at the 2007 regional NMRA convention here in Boise on how I do sage brush trees using spray contact cement.
Cody Grivno was present representing ModelRailroader at this clinic.
I began the clinic with the following: those boys at MR make me crazy! Every time they open a jar of some paint some lawyer says that they have to give some disclaimer about the dangers of petroleum distillates. This is bunk!
They do not understand Darwinian Succession (Some guy later called it the survival of the fittest, not Darwin).
So here is how I see it. Understanding Darwinian Succession, the stronger will outlast the weaker. So I if I drown an adequate number of brain cells with the distillate (beer drinkers take heed, this applies also to the alcoholic substances) of your choice, which will go away first, the stronger or the weaker?
The weaker of course.
This then is simple............ the more distillates I inhale, and the more alcohol I ingest............ the smarter I become.
Do not write me back with some scientific refutation. My mind is made up...... don't confuse me with the facts.
see ya
Bob
Very nice Bob,
Quote from: bparrish on January 08, 2021, 04:53:54 PM
So here is how I see it. Understanding Darwinian Succession, the stronger will outlast the weaker. So I if I drown an adequate number of brain cells with the distillate (beer drinkers take heed, this applies also to the alcoholic substances) of your choice, which will go away first, the stronger or the weaker?
The weaker of course.
This then is simple............ the more distillates I inhale, and the more alcohol I ingest............ the smarter I become.
Beautiful work on this scratchbuilt loco, Bob. I am enthralled by your work. And the quote above is worthy of being framed, or at least cross-stitched on a nice presentation fabric.
--Opa George
Nice work Bob - looks good
Doug